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While we spend a lot of time highlighting each manufacturer’s various twists on Android, the depressing truth remains that none of these experiences are all that unique. In 2024, when you see one Android skin, you’ll feel like you’ve seen them all. Sure, your notifications may change color and your settings may look a little different, but compared to 10 years ago, Android from competing OEMs has become surprisingly uniform.
Smartphone developers have encapsulated what people want in a UI and are willing to follow suit, even at the expense of individuality and innovation. This is completely his iOS version of Android, and companies don’t seem keen on stopping this despite the risk of negatively impacting sales. The first one to break through the wall always ends up covered in blood. But how did we get here? Let’s take a look at where Android lost its flavor and what you can do to get it back.
where everything fell apart
The nougat wasn’t very tasty after all.
You can see that the Android look is starting to integrate into version 7.0 (Nougat). I remember booting up my Samsung Galaxy S7 and noticing how it started to look and feel like iOS. The icons look a little too sophisticated and the widgets have lost their insanity. I miss the days of scrolling through the Motorola Photon’s carousel or the HTC Evo’s Sense UI, enjoying each manufacturer’s unique features.
I understand that nostalgia has a tendency to creep in, but there were good reasons why many UI elements disappeared. Carousels can be a performance nightmare, and any slowdowns can have a significant impact on frame rate. Still, I can’t believe we’ve reached peak user experience, so I’m sure there’s a middle ground.
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Before Android 7, you could differentiate your phone by more than just its hardware. Picking up a Sony Xperia device feels like using a Playstation or Sony Blu-ray player, with menus and icons that reflect the company’s software design language. By comparison, Samsung’s One UI can be considered a well-remodeled skin, but it’s probably not much different from the standard offering from years past. But it’s not all the manufacturer’s fault.
Google takes control
Lock down the experience
Along the way, Google learned that a substandard user experience hurts both manufacturers and Google. The two cannot be separated. If you had a crappy phone and hated Android, Google would lose just as much as Motorola or Samsung. As a result, the company has locked down certain features and customizations to ensure a baseline user experience across all brands.
Android has undoubtedly become more stable and reliable, but it has lost the charm that first attracted us. Every time you buy a new device, the sense of discovery and excitement is gone, replaced by a rinse-and-repeat process that involves simply restoring a backup to your new device the moment you open the box. When you start up your Galaxy S24 Ultra, within a few minutes,sameWe’ve recreated the S23 Ultra experience right down to the widgets and wallpapers. Tired of feeling like setting up your new phone is just another chore you have to do? Surely there must be a way to regain some of the love from your past cell phone.
It’s not 2009 anymore
feed the big dog
I remember Jeremy Clarkson reviewing Lamborghinis in the old Top Gear and commenting that it wasn’t reliability or refinement that drew us to Lamborghinis. Adding a laser to the windshield wiper if possible was pure insanity and a novelty of its design. Android has lost it. It feels as if we’ve made a deal for an Apple user to forego excitement for a secure, walled-garden experience when he buys his iPhone.
I’m not saying we should go back to the wild west days of Android, when you wondered if your phone would work when you took it off the charger in the morning. But Samsung, Motorola, and Sony aren’t hiring UX engineers for $50 off on Fiverr. It’s time to loosen Google’s restrictions, allow talent to create new and exciting user experiences, and let the magic of the market decide what’s best.
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Smartphones at every price point have become so good that our tolerance for growing pains has disappeared. If your phone doesn’t work well out of the box, there are plenty of other options. This has led manufacturers to avoid risks and maintain the status quo out of fear of retaliation. But OEMs don’t have to look far for inspiration, with launchers like Niagara showing what’s possible. It makes good use of the Sony Xperia’s tall, narrow display and emphasizes software-driven hardware design. This is a welcome feature, and the launcher provides a great way to customize your phone.
we need more players
It’s up to the little guys
Source: TCL
Rebellions often come from below. Big OEMs like Samsung and Google have little incentive to upset Apple’s cart, so it’s up to smaller manufacturers to push the envelope. I don’t believe that innovation was better back when BlackBerry and Windows Phone still existed. Windows Phone brought us live tiles and always-on displays long before Android arrived. The BlackBerry OS was also very lightweight and efficient, so I’m confident it could run on the Ti-83. Whoever introduces a bold new user experience will own the market for his decade. All we need is someone brave enough to take on the challenge.
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